Front section of charred Quincy temple can stay standing

Wednesday

Oct 2, 2013 at 12:01 AMMay 9, 2014 at 6:48 AM

A structural engineer has determined that the rear section of the Quincy Masonic Temple ravaged by Monday's fire needs to be razed, but the front section, including its stone facade, four pillars and gold Freemason symbol, will remain standing.

Patrick Ronan

A structural engineer has determined that the rear section of the Quincy Masonic Temple ravaged by Monday's fire needs to be razed, but the front section, including its stone facade, four pillars and gold Freemason symbol, will remain standing.

Jay Duca, Quincy's director of inspectional services, said Wednesday the three brick walls in the back of the building will be knocked down as soon as the building owner hires a demolition contractor. Duca said the demo could happen in the coming hours.

"Because it is an unsafe building, I will expedite the process," Duca said. "All the utilities have been shut off. As long as the contractor is qualified and has the proper license and insurance, it will be approved."

A four-alarm fire ripped through the Quincy Masonic Temple, built in 1926, causing the roof in the rear to collapse and one of the brick walls to crack. Although it took nearly four hours for firefighters to extinguish the fire, the building's front section made of Indiana limestone, although gutted from the inside, wasn't a total loss.

"The thought is that the front portion of the building can be saved, and it is stabilized," Duca said.

On Tuesday, the state Fire Marshal’s office concluded that the fire was an accident caused by construction employees working in the Hancock Street building.

“They were grinding and cutting some ductwork in a tight spot when they accidentally ignited some nearby insulation,” she said.

Jennifer Mieth, spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Fire Services, said the crew had walked away from the spot where the fire started, not knowing a spark had occurred, and then came back later to see flames.

“It’s not like it happened right in front of them,” she said. “It was probably smoldering for a little while."

Quincy Fire Chief Joseph Barron said the workers tried to put out the fire with extinguishers before the fire department was notified. He said they should have made the call before trying to put out the fire.

“It’s like if someone collapses in front of you. You call 9-1-1 first before you administer CPR,” he said.

The 87-year-old building had no sprinkler system, Barron said.

The Sovereign Bank parking lot next to the temple will likely remained closed until the brick wall on the north, rear end of the building is razed, Quincy Fire Capt. Daniel Gorman said. The bank itself was open for business Tuesday.

Leo Martin of Martin Realty in Quincy recently agreed to purchase the building from the Masonic Temple Association of Quincy, which no longer needed the entire temple to hold its meetings. Martin had planned to renovate the building and preserve part of it for the freemasons.

Martin said Monday the building’s facade will be preserved and a new space for the Rural Lodge of Masons, the group that has been meeting in the temple since 1926, will be built. The Rural Lodge of Masons, currently consisting of about 400 members, will be meeting at a Weymouth lodge until it finds a new home.

The three-story Quincy Masonic Temple, valued by the city's assessors at $3 million, building, was 21,653 square feet in size.

A portion of Hancock Street was shut down to traffic for several hours Monday as firefighters battled the blaze.

Quincy Fire Chief Joseph Barron said the Sovereign Bank branch and the building located directly behind the lodge were evacuated Monday. No injuries were reported.